Microsoft announced a new initiative earlier today, which aims to give free software to small companies who are in the business of web development and design. According to TechFlash, the program is called WebsiteSpark, and it adds to the BizSpark and DreamSpark programs that Microsoft is already running.The Redmond-based software company is hoping to get between 15,000 to 25,000 companies signed up in the first year alone, according to Mitra Azizira the Microsoft general manager for developer platform evangelism. This isn't an unrealistic goal, as the offer of free professional software is an enticing offer to anyone, especially businesses just starting up. To add to the offer, obtaining software through WebsiteSpark will mean the companies can avoid Microsoft's complex licensing deals which will save the time and the hassle.
So, what's in this for Microsoft, aside from getting more of their software out there? The company hopes that by getting the start-ups using their software early that they'll stick with it as they grow, which is pretty likely; having to shift to an entire new set of software is a tedious and costly process. The only catch that comes with WebsiteSpark is that companies will have to have 10 or fewer employees to be eligible for it, and those participating will be able to be involved for up to three years. Additionally, the business will have to pay $100 when they exit the program.
If you're keen to check out WebsiteSpark, promptly head over to the official website and have a look. It's also worth noting that a range of partners with Microsoft will offer discounted services through WebsiteSpark, which apparently includes hosting companies.
Microsoft make great development tools, but .Net is so horrible. I mean, they don't use .net for anything serious, you won't see Office or Windows on .net. It is just an extension of visual basic, where they horribly convolute web protocols to store state information in a page. I tear my hair out every time I have to work with anything done in .net.
I was talking about the way it tries to "simplify" everything, by hiding what is actually happening. This is the same thing they did for VB, we end up with a horrible mess. That is my opinion of .Net anyway. Hate it with a passion.
Um... You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but you seem a bit confused. I won't comment on much of that because I'm not even sure what you mean, but as for it not being used for anything serious, Microsoft is developing Visual Studio 2010 in .Net, Expression Studio, as well as many of their smaller applications like calculator, paint, and wordpad. They have stated several times now that their goal is to concentrate more and more on .Net development, so though Office isn't in .Net now, it certainly could happen at some point...
That's generally the purpose of using these kinds of things.
That's because you don't know .Net. I used to work with VB6 and now .Net and it's only complicated to those who don't understand it. Once you learn it, it becomes VERY easy to quickly develop secure and powerful applications which is why it's taken off like it has. I see .Net sites out there constantly - much more than CGI, PHP, or ColdFusion.
That's my take on it, anyway -- that MS is pushing this so they get more developers signed onto Silverlight development. The CBS Sunday night football Silverlight experience is one you can only dream Flash can do.
No, what's going to happen is that devs will continue to use Flash, until in a few months the next version of Flash is released that will match Silverlight's HD video streaming capabilities. Most sites aren't ready for HD video yet in any case, and US cable companies are doing everything they can to sabotage it, so don't blame it on Flash.
Amended to be more true :p
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/24/micro...ng-mobile-azur/
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